大象传媒

Eventually it became clear that the RAF was going to be very much smaller in the post-war years and the chances of staying in and carrying on flying were pretty slim. Everybody was talking about demob and what they were going to do. I had thought a lot about staying in the Forces but because of the huge shrinkage鈥檚 being talked about decided that it would be better if I got out.I came home and stayed with my Mum and Dad for a while and decided that I would look to Surveying again. There were many schemes available for ex-servicemen, and after making some enquiries looked around for a suitable course. I eventually found one at the Brixton School of Building, which I heard was very good and enrolled. The course was for two and a half years, and I found when I started that there were many other ex-servicemen on the course, so things weren鈥檛 too strange for me. The course was very hard work and when I finished it took the RICS intermediate exam which I managed to pass OK. It then became a matter of priority to find a job, something I had never done before! I eventually found one at Ipswich quite near to my parents home, at five pounds a week. This wasn鈥檛 exactly a fortune and only just paid for my keep and fares.After about six weeks I appealed to my boss for an increase, he gave me a pound a week rise which didn鈥檛 help a lot! I was feeling pretty low, and saw an advert in the local paper for a QS in the local town hall. I was so depressed by now that I had a go and to my surprise landed the job. This was a great improvement for me, a good rise in pay and no fares, I felt quite well off for a while.It was at about this time that I saw adverts in the papers for people to volunteer for the RAF Volunteer Reserve for flying duties. I rather fancied flying again, so decided to enlist. I went for an interview and was taken on, this was a whole new way of life because every weekend I went off to Cambridge to go flying. These weekends were very enjoyable, we flew Saturday afternoons had a good evening playing bridge or going to the local hop in Cambridge, usually staying up very late and having a cooked breakfast in a transport cafe at about three in the morning. Back to the airfield for a couple of hours sleep and then flew again Sunday morning and after lunch drove back home, and we got paid for this. My boss at work was very good and I enjoyed the job, which was valuable experience but a bit boring. My boss knew how I felt and showed me an advert in the local paper for a job with the County Council. I didn鈥檛 feel really qualified but had a go and to my surprise got the job.At last I was starting to get into real Quantity Surveying and taking some responsibility. After a while I was asked to look after all the police housing for the County Council, this meant a lot of travelling and I got to know the county quite well.One of the chaps at the County Hall who I befriended I found out was a Freemason and as my father had been one I enquired if it was possible to join, and eventually was initiated into the Craft. This was something that I had thought about for some years and it gave me great satisfaction to take part.After I had been at County Hall for about a year the Korean war started and I received a letter from the Air Ministry asking if I would like to volunteer to go back into the RAF for three months and complete a conversion course onto jet fighters as there was a possibility that they would be needed. I had thought for some time that it would be quite an experience to fly a jet and accepted quickly. My employers were very good about it and gave me leave without pay for the duration of the course.

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